Noise Drop Beyond Airports Predicted

April 2, 1985|By Fred Lowery, Transportation Writer

Airplane noise in neighborhoods near Palm Beach International Airport won`t be eliminated soon, a top Federal Aviation Administration said Monday, but neighbors should notice less noise as new standards take effect.

The noise situation is not unique to PBIA, John Wesler, director of the FAA Office of Energy and Environment, told a congressional subcommittee. Additional, substantial noise reductions will come as quieter aircraft are developed, Wesler said.

The aim, said Gerald Kayten, director of the Aerodynamics Division of NASA`s Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology, is to reduce aircraft noise so that only airport grounds are subject to noise levels greater than those of surrounding areas.

Wesler and Kayten were the lead witnesses at a hearing on noise-reduction technology, held at the Governmental Center in West Palm Beach by the Subcommittee on Transportation, Aviation and Materials of the House Science and Technology Committee.

``The long-term objective is eventually to contain within the boundary of the airport itself all aircraft noise which is appreciably greater than the typical ambient noise in the community,`` said Kayten, whose office conducts aircraft noise research for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Since 1968, Wesler said, the FAA has taken a three-pronged approach to airport noise abatement: setting noise standards for aircraft, controlling air traffic patterns to minimize disruptions and conducting programs to make airport noise compatible with surrounding areas.

Of those, he said, setting and enforcing noise standards is the most complex and time consuming.

Because of the economics involved, the phasing-in of aircraft meeting the current, most stringent noise standards is likely to take several years, Wesler said, just as did the phase-in of planes meeting the agency`s first standards.

And with deregulation of the U.S. airline industry, said Rep. Dan Glickman, D-Kan., the transition period is likely to take even longer.

``Deregulation has created an open market for older airplanes. Many are used by new (airline) entities and developing nations,`` Glickman said. ``American manufacturers are building such a quality product that (airplanes) have lasted a lot longer than anyone expected.``

Richard Russell, chief noise technology officer for Boeing Co., estimated it would take until 2010 to phase out all aircraft which do not meet the newest noise standards.

And the cost of converting those aircraft, he said, would be prohibitively expensive in many cases. For example, conversion of the DC-8 was successful because it was proven to be financially feasible, while conversion of that airplane`s contemporary, the Boeing 707, was found to be too expensive.

In addition, while research into further ways to reduce aircraft noise are continuing, the rate of progress is expected to slow considerably in the future, Russell said.

``The easy and obvious noise-reduction steps have been taken,`` he said.

Eastern Airlines continually updates its fleet to improve fuel efficiency, said Kevin Cooper, the airline`s operations services and technical support director. A major byproduct has been the quietest fleet of any commercial airline, he said.

The NASA research goal of reduction of noise to ambient levels is achievable but expensive, Cooper said, ``and it certainly would relieve the airlines of some of the criticism they receive today.``

However, Perry Goldberg, chief of acoustics engineering and nacelle aerodynamics for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, said he doubted ambient levels could ever be achieved.

``Unless you enlarge airport boundaries, I don`t see anything like (ambient levels) in the near future,`` said Goldberg.